Camenzuli red card fails to hold rampant Stripes

Birkirkara 4
Lija Athletic 0

AS expected, Birkirkara obtained an easy victory over lowly Lija Athletic to bridge the gap with the leading trio and renew their hopes of a shot at the title once the Championship Pool gets underway.

The Stripes narrowly failed to repeat the emphatic win registered in the first round (6-1). But, with only a slender lead to their credit, coach Stephen Azzopardi must have feared the possibility of a surprise slip by his side when William Camenzuli was sent off on the stroke of half-time for a cruel tackle on Nicky Gatt.

Sometimes football defies logics and contrary to expectations, Birkir-kara looked more fluid with ten men as a sudden burst of fine play after the hour yielded two further goals that enabled them to breathe with more ease and cruise comfortably home.

On their part, Lija could do very little against superior opposition. Coach Ilir Pelinku failed to motivate his players to be more conspicuous up front in the second half.

At times, it was hard to notice which team was in actual fact down to ten men. Goalkeeper Saviour Darmanin, again playing in the Birkirkara goal, had a very quiet afternoon and hardly ever got involved in the proceedings like the rest of his colleagues patrolling the rearguard.

On ten minutes Birkirkara took the lead. Ciantar sent a free-kick towards the far post, Nwoko headed powerfully towards goal as Agius partially saved the ball. Defender Zammit tried his utmost to ease the pressure by clearing upfield but in flashed Doda to fire an unstoppable drive into the Lija net.

On 18 minutes Ciantar was again in the thick of action. He chipped a delightful ball deep in the Lija box with the unmarked Mallia heading towards goal and Lanzon blocking the effort.

Midway through the first half, Azzopardi's troops rallied again. Barbara was the provider as Galea momentarily evaded Gatt's shadow before rounding off his marker but sending an inswinger soaring above the crossbar.

The match was one-way traffic with Pelinku's men soaking the pressure and holding out by crowding their defence. Agius was constantly on his guard as the Stripes' charged their way to the Lija goal with a string of menacing moves that always looked likely to produce a goal.

Despite this constant onslaught, the basement side managed to tame their opponents' fury even though Azzopardi must have been frustrated at the wealth of chances squandered by his players.

On the stroke of half-time Camen-zuli was given his marching orders for a foul on Gatt. The Lija midfielder was on the receiving end for most of first half but Camenzuli's sturdy tackle was deemed to have gone beyond reasonable limit with referee Paul Caruana flashing the red card to the surprise of the Stripes' defender.

A minute after the interval, Birkirkara nearly doubled the score. Okeke headed a feeble clearance and Ciantar's volley on the half-turn skimmed the crossbar.

On 64 minutes, Birkirkara doubled their tally and all but sealed the issue.

Monye slipped the ball towards Galea who had enough time and space to dart into the penalty area and plant a grounder into the net as the Lija rearguard stopped dead in its tracks for a virtual offside that was apparently only evident to Okeke and the rest of the Reds' defenders.

Two minutes later, Birkirkara struck again. Nwoko executed an inviting free-kick from the edge of the box which had the better of Agius as the Lija custodian could only manage to touch the ball on its way into the corner of the net.

Ciantar thought he had done enough to get his name deservedly on the scoresheet but his shot rebounded off the underside of the bar.

With four minutes to go, substitutes Roderick Sammut and Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza took centre stage to stamp their presence on the field. Sammut provided the ex-Floriana striker with a good cross that was expertly converted into a goal for Birkirkara's fourth of the afternoon.

Birkirkara: S. Darmanin-6, M.A. Bonnici-5 ('68 L. Galea-6), P. Monye-7, W. Camenzuli, H. Doda-7 ('84 J.P. Mifsud Triganza), M. Galea-7, C. Nwoko-7, L. Dronca-5 ('74 R. Sammut), G. Mallia-7, E. Barbara-6, A. Ciantar-8.

Lija: S. Agius-5, D. Okeke-5, N. Gatt-6, G. Lanzon-6, K. Zammit-5 ('81 B. Spiteri), D. Scerri-5 ('67 E. Navarro), G. Camenzuli-6, G. Barry-4 ('76 A. Ellul), P. Camilleri-5, Z. Ancic-5, J. Vella-5.

Referee: Paul Caruana.

Scorers: Doda 10; Galea 64; Nwoko 66; Mifsud Triganza 86.

Yellow Cards: Okeke, Monye.

Red Card: Camenzuli 45.

Player Of The Match: Adrian Ciantar (Birkirkara).